East Palo Alto, California, Sales Tax, Measure P (November 2016)
| Measure P: East Palo Alto Sales Tax |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| City tax |
| Related articles |
| City tax on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California San Mateo County, California ballot measures City tax on the ballot |
| See also |
| East Palo Alto, California |
A sales tax was on the ballot for East Palo Alto voters in San Mateo County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of enacting an additional 0.5 percent sales tax to provide funds for general city services. |
| A no vote was a vote against enacting an additional 0.5 percent sales tax to provide funds for general city services. |
Election results
| Measure P | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 5,389 | 84.6% | ||
| No | 981 | 15.4% | ||
- Election results from San Mateo County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
To make neighborhoods safer by maintaining rapid police response times/number of police officers patrolling neighborhood streets; repairing streets/potholes; updating drinking water/storm drain infrastructure; maintaining youth/senior programs and other vital City services, shall East Palo Alto enact a one-half cent (1/2%) sales tax that it can only be ended by voters providing about $1,800,000 annually, with citizens' oversight, annual independent audits, all funds benefitting East Palo Alto? |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the East Palo Alto City Attorney:
| “ |
The City Council of the City of East Palo Alto is submitting to the voters the question of whether to approve an ordinance that would add Chapter 3.57 to the Municipal Code to enact a general retail transactions and use tax in accordance with the California Revenue and Taxation Code sections 7251 and following. If approved by voters, Measure P would enact a one-half cent tax to the price of an item that costs a dollar or one-half of one percent on gross receipts of any retailers from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail on and after February 28, 2017 (operative date). This is administered and collected by the California Board of Equalization, including delivery charges when such charges are subject to State sales and use tax. Because Measure P does not limit the use of tax revenue, it is a "general tax", not a "special tax" which restricts the funds to specific purposes. If approved, all proceeds of this local tax will go into the City's general fund to be able to support general city services including but not limited to police, streets, parks, infrastructure such as storm drains and water delivery pipes, and recreation services including youth and senior programs. An excise tax is imposed on the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property (known as goods) purchased from any retailer in the City on and after the Operative date at the rate of one-half cent of the sales price. The sales price includes delivery charges when such charges are subject to state sales or use tax. With some exceptions, all provisions of the California Revenue and Taxation Code (sections 6001 and following) are adopted and made part of the ordinance. A retailer engaged in business in the City shall not be required to collect the use tax unless the retailer ships or delivers the goods into the City or participates within the City in making the sale. An independent financial audit of revenues generated shall be performed annually. The City Council shall hold a community forum annually to review the independent audit results and discuss use of the revenues generated by the ordinance. The discussion shall include spending priorities as part of the City's annual strategic budget process. The tax proceeds cannot be legally taken by the State. The authority to levy the tax imposed by Chapter 3.57 shall not expire unless ended by the voters of East Palo Alto. A "Yes" vote will add Chapter 3.57 as described above to the East Palo Alto Municipal Code to impose a one-half cent sales and use tax until ended by the voters with citizen oversight and independent audits. A "No" vote will not add Chapter 3.57 to the East Palo Alto Municipal Code and therefore no additional sales and use tax will be enacted in the City of East Palo Alto. Measure P would be approved if it received a simple majority of "yes" votes. |
” |
| —East Palo Alto City Attorney[1] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of East Palo Alto, California.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms East Palo Alto City tax. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 San Mateo County Elections, "November 8, 2016 Presidential General Election: Ballot Measure Information," accessed October 22, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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